On guard at JSS Ur

BAGHDAD - Pfc. Ahmed Ali, of Brooklyn, New York, watches from a guard tower at Joint Security Station Ur, here, Sept. 20. Ali, a combat engineer assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, said his job is to keep a close eye on any possible threat to JSS Ur. "We're looking for any kind of suspicious acts, people trying to place an IRAM [improvised rocket assist mortar], people shooting at us or anybody trying to infiltrate the JSS," said Ali. "We call up anything we hear; if we hear shots or we hear an explosion." Ali joked that even after hours in the guard tower, Soldiers still run out of things to talk about. "You can tell your whole life story in six hours and then you run out of things to talk about."

BAGHDAD - Pfc. Jesse Anderson, a combat engineer from Kirksville, Mo., scans his sector from a guard tower at Joint Security Station Ur, here, Sept. 20. Anderson's vantage point gives him a view of the Sadr City area, where he watches for any suspicious activity or breaches of the compound's walls. "You get to see how the people live day to day [from the guard tower]," said Anderson, who is assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.